MILWAUKEE — Several Wisconsin voting rights groups banded together against talk of impeachment around newly elected state Supreme Court Justice Janet Protasiewicz on Saturday.
Group leaders at the 2023 Women’s Convention in Milwaukee renewed calls for Republican House Speaker Robin Vos to reconsider his stance.
"This is a perfect place to do it," Wisconsin Working Families Director Corinne Rosen said. "There's people here from all over the country and all over Wisconsin. Women that have come to join that are really looking for a representative democracy and are willing to fight for it."
Vos’ impeachment push started two months ago. Protasiewicz called the GOP drawn legislative maps “rigged” and “unfair” during her campaign. The speaker originally threatened impeachment if Protasiewicz didn’t recuse herself in a redistricting lawsuit favored by Democrats.
Vos pulled back from his stance after listening to at least two former conservative state Supreme Court justices. They said that Protasiewicz’s actions did not warrant impeachment.
“It’s time for him publicly to come out against it,” Rosen said. “She has the right to make her decisions. She is a judge; she is a fair Judge. She's gonna make it based on the law."
Vos said he may try to impeach Protasiewicz if she doesn’t rule in favor of current Republican maps. Group leaders also urged Vos and other Republicans to consider the will of the people who elected Protasiewicz to serve.
“She won fair and square,” said Souls to the Polls representative Pastor Mose Fuller. “For Robin Vos to even mention impeachment, it’s a continuation of his willingness and his desire to disenfranchise voters.”
The following groups participated in Saturday's call to take impeachment off the table: Souls to the Polls, Women’s March, WI Working Families Party, Power to the Polls and SEIU Wisconsin State Council.
TMJ4 News has reached out to Speaker Vos’ office for comment. We are waiting to hear back.
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